NZ women determined to make progress

Vital ICC Women’s Championship points at stake in the first three ODIs

June 26, 2015 02:56 am | Updated 02:56 am IST - Bengaluru:

TOUGH SERIES: The New Zealand women’s team may not find it easy againstthe host as it has to adapt to the heat after arriving from a southernhemisphere winter. Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

TOUGH SERIES: The New Zealand women’s team may not find it easy againstthe host as it has to adapt to the heat after arriving from a southernhemisphere winter. Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

With vital ICC Women’s Championship points at stake in the first three one-day matches, New Zealand arrives in India determined to make progress on the road to the 2017 World Cup. The teams will play five One-Day Internationals and three Twenty20 Internationals at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here, beginning from Sunday.

“This series is massive for both teams,” New Zealand captain Suzie Bates said here on Thursday. “We’re not here just to focus on the first three games — which count for points — but the whole five ODIs and the three T20Is. We want to win both series and win well.”

It cannot be easy for the tourists, who have to adapt to India arriving from a southern hemisphere winter, but they have been camped here for nearly a week now.

The Kiwis will also benefit from playing India ‘A’ in a warm-up match here on Friday. “Where I’m from its zero degrees so it’s been a change for some of us,” said the Dunedin-born Bates. “So we’ve come over earlier, and will have had almost 10 days of preparation. We knew we had to get used to the conditions, and to the heat.”

Earlier this year, New Zealand won two of its first three ODIs against England, earning four valuable IWC points. Although the series was lost 3-2,

Bates was pleased with her side’s form.

“Rachel Priest has been outstanding in both formats as an opener,” she said. “We’ve got Amy Satterthwaite at three who’s been world-class and then we’ve got the likes of Sophie Devine who can hit the ball pretty hard.”

If Devine was a member of the national field hockey team, Bates played basketball at the 2008 Olympic Games. Asked if there were skills transferable to cricket, the 27-year-old laughed.

“It has been a while since I’ve played basketball,” Bates said.

“When you play any sport you play at international level you learn from the pressures and the stress of performing. Mentally it’s one of the biggest gains. We do play warm-up games of basketball. Its open spaces that I think I’m pretty good at. So I guess out on the field that’s helped.”

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.